usaf1970

I met with my POA today and reviewed my records. I was denied in 2008 for service connection for my kidneys. The RD stated it was denied due to not finding service records of any treatments while I was in for chronic kidney disease, and also they did not receive proof that I currently had a kidney disease. I did not physically receive this letter, i had moved around that time and for whatever reason I did not physically get the letter. However, I followed up with my POA at that time and he explained that I was denied because they did not find service records. He requested a more legible copy of my service records. That is the last I heard from them. The 1 year to appeal expired. This past year I replied and received service connection for my kidneys. My question is do I have any shot at all of getting my sc date pushed back to 2008? My current POA heard my story today and stated they would not file a CUE because I have no chance. Im sure they are right...but I wanted to hear from people on here. I trust the people on here. Let me know what you think. Is this worth getting a lawyer to fight the va?

Thank you Berta. Just called and spoke with him, love his attitude. Just what I needed. I'm done struggling with this process! Thanks again Berta...one day when my life settles down I'd love to meet you and thank you personally. You are awesome.

Hi all, Can anyone recommend a decent attorney to help me file a CUE claim? I separated the AF with proteinuria back in 1996, kidneys got worse and have been on meds since like 1999 for my kidneys. My original Disability claim was filed in 2008 and denied in early 2009. I did not file an appeal, because I didn't know what the heck i was doing. I have dug through the internet and this site and learned a lot, I requested my claim be re-opened in 2014 and was awarded 60% service connection for my kidneys in October or November. This is great for me, but I want to know if I have a claim for a CUE. While I have read up and tried to educate myself about the CUE process, I don't feel comfortable filing that myself. I have tried to work with my VSO, and they asked me to assign them as POA....but frankly I feel like I'm doing all the work myself and I just want to be sure this gets done right. I am currently working on adding some secondary conditions to my original claim. I have my doctor drafting an IMO letter to include in my secondary claim. Once that is done (soon), I want to file a CUE. Does anyone have an attorney they can recommend? I live near Cincinnati, OH if that matters. Also, what should I expect their cut to be if I'm awarded some sort of retro pay? I'm thinking it will be 50% which seems harsh, but if that's the going rate I guess it is what it is. Thanks for your time. Pat

Thank you Navy4life.

thank you Berta. I will read up on both of them. I will also take a shot at my VSO to see if he can assist.

Thanks Berta & John. My kidney doctor has already offered to write up a letter connecting my gout to my kidney disease. I'll discuss the other things with him and see what he says. I think hypertension is also a no brainer, but not sure if mine is bad enough to warrant any additional %. Plus it is under control with meds. The depression and sleep apnea are probably a stretch...but my doctor will let me know. Berta, a question for you. You mentioned previously that I can appeal my EED with either a CUE claim or you mentioned this in another thread: "I am now thinking (since they obviously SCed the proteinuria disability,) that perhaps a claim under 38 CFR 3.156 would be in order...instead of a CUE claim. hard to say at this point.....it depends on the older denial. But I think you sure have a basis under 3.156" -------------------------------------------------- Is one of these claims better than the other? (CUE vs 38 CFR 3.156). My original claim that was denied was filed in 2008 and denied in 2009. I'm working on getting all my C-file & my denial letter from 2009. Once I have all that, I believe I'm going to request getting retro pay back to 2008. I think a CUE can do that. Can a 38 CFR 3.156 get my EED moved back even further than that?

My claim is still showing in ebenefits as admin review even though it has been approved. Could that be the VA is looking at if this could have been a CUE without me requesting?

So I originally files a claim in 2008 for kidney disease and it was denied in 2009. I did not appeal it for numerous reasons. I have requested the cfile but haven't received it yet. What I scanned in was all that was in the letter regarding the reasons and basis. If I get more I will scan it in. I reopened this claim in August of this year so they retroed to 9/1

The letter I received had a lot of stuff about receiving benefits and there was this section:

Yes Berta, I got 2 months retro so im not retiring anytime soon but I actually never thought id get anything after the original denial so this is a blessing. I will definitely hold on to some for the IMO. Thanks for the advice. The letter I received from the VA does not look like a cfile that I've seen people scan on here before. I will snap a picture of the section that discusses what they decided. I am on medication for depression and I have been for probably 6 years now. I dont see a therapist or anything. But I have been to one a couple of times in the past.

Thank you CT

I received a service connected disability rating for kidney disease recently of 60%. I have multiple other conditions at least two of which should have no problem being connected as a secondary disease. Gout and hypertension. Since I am going through the process of filing another claim...I feel like I might as well throw everything out on the table. So a couple of other things that I have also filed for aren't as clearly connected. Depression and sleep apnea. My question is, should i even bother pushing the envelope on the other two conditions - depression and sleep apnea? I dont know if they are related or caused by kidney problems or not. So could it hurt anything to submit them as well as the other two? Without a doubt in my mind I have bad depression as a result of kidney disease and gout. What are your thoughts?

Its hard to believe but I actually got paid today. I know I keep saying this but I really am eternally grateful for this site. I will be donating as soon as I hit submit on this post. Thanks again everyone.

Berta - everytime I log on here and see another reply from you, I feel so completely honored. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!! I will read up on this 38 CFR 3.156. I'm not going to hold my breath, but when I get my C-file, SMR's, & my original claim rejection I will try to upload the denial letter and whatever else is relevant and if you or anyone else has time to help me form my argument I would be eternally grateful. You are an absolute angel!!! I have been close to Harvard (for work), but never stopped by. If I ever make it out that way again I will definitely ask you about the room named after your uncle! What an honor that is. :)

Thank you Berta. I am going through ebenefits now and trying to add gout, hypertension, sleep apnea as secondary. I tried to add depression since i've been taking meds for that since 2008 or 2009. But when I add that through ebenefits it treats it like PTSD...so I dropped off depression. I have not done anything with SSDI for this, I didn't think i would need to or be able to since I'm still able to work. I will look into that though. "if a vet is denied for a SC and the denial is not appealed ,and then the disability eventually becomes SC, ........ if the disability was at least at a 10% NSC rating level in the denied decision, that makes the older decision in many cases, ripe for a CUE claim to recover some EED." I'm all over this. I'm going to file for a CUE and even though my VSO does not think it will hold water, I can not see why it wouldn't. In my denial letter from my 2008 claim, the VA stated that they were unable to find medical records from my military medical records that showed where i was treated for kidney disease. I'm not sure how they missed the proteinuria, but I guess they did. So this time around it was approved. I will try a CUE and hopefully my kids get to go to Harvard as a result. :)) You are truly a saint for helping vets on here. The world is a better place thanks to people like you!!!

I had a closed door C & P exam last Wednesday, that I was not allowed to attend. I was not happy about this, but maybe it was for the better. I logged into eBenefits on Thursday and seen that my claim moved to the final phase before completion (i think its called preparation for notice). I clicked on the link to download va letters and I see a document that says I'm approved for 60% for my kidney disease. I'm pretty estatic. I thought I was looking at 10-30% if I was lucky. Thanks a lot to all the people on this site who share their knowledge. This site has been a great support tool for me. Words can not express the grattitude I feel towards a lot of people on this site who took the time to respond. Never give up hope guys!!

Congrats navy4life. Thats awesome news! Question for you, by any chance after your claim went to PFN and you seen a benefit letter online, did your claim ever go back to admin review? My claim just did that this week....I was thrilled but now its back in admin review. Im telling myself this is just a double check...but I dont have a clue what could be going on. Just wondering if that happened to you?

I had a C & P exam yesterday that was closed to me (as stated above). I logged into eBenefits today, and my claim went from gathering evidence to "preperation for notification" in 1 day. Below is the note in ebenefits. Anyone know if this is a good sign/bad sign/or neither? My thoughts are that my original claim was denied in 2008. They reviewed my reopen claim yesterday, if they were going to approve it...they would be more cautious....so a notice sent out this fast is a bad sign probably??? Next Steps: Your claim is currently located in our "Rating" phase. We will propose a decision on your claim when all outstanding requirements are satisfied. Several factors will determine the duration of the "Decision" phase, including: type of claim filed number of disabilities you claim complexity of your disability(ies), and availability of evidence needed to decide your claim.

berta - thank you again for the response. I am grateful and very humbled that people take the time to respond to these questions and help out vets. A lot of good people in the world! I do not have my SMRs. I asked the VA hospital who did my C&P exam yesterday if I could come there and get a copy of whatever the physician was reviewing. I was denied by 3 or 4 people. Went to their supervisor, and was again denied. With a nice explanation why that still didn't make sense...but oh well. After their decision is made I can request the C-file i guess. And if it doesn't go in my favor, i will appeal immediately. I have sent a request to the NPR office in St Louis for my entire OPMF file which i assumed would contain all my medical records. I was told that might not be the case, so i submitted another request on a 21-4138 requesting my medical records from Louisville, Ky. I'm excited and hope to have closure on this either way it goes fairly soon. If it is denied, I will be better prepared for an appeal than I was going into this. I have requested a new VSO who will hopefully be as helpful as you people on here have been. If it gets approved, I am going to file a CUE to try and get my benefits paid back to my original claim in 2008. Either way I am happy that I am giving it my best shot. btw Berta, I can't help but find your vast appreciation of music interesting. From Eminem to Zepplin & Hendrix to AmerIndian battle changs....that's really cool stuff!

so i called the VA regional hospital and they told me I am not permitted to be at the C & P exam. I'm guessing this is because they are maybe reviewing my claim for whether or not it can be re-opened. Because it was originally filed in 2008, and denied....the VA will only re-open it if there is "new & material" evidence. Am I understanding this correctly? I think I will still show up and just ask the physician if I can make a copy of whatever he/she is reviewing. What's the worst they can do, lock me up I guess??

britton - yes, i would love to be there and get a copy of the records they are reviewing. Do I have a right to do this? The lady at the va hospital I spoke to today acted like I didn't need to be there, but never said I had an option to be there. I'd love to get a copy of everything they are reviewing on Wednesday. I'm going to call them now.

carlie - thank you for the advice. I called the local va medical center today and asked about my c & p exam, and they stated it was a review of my records and that I was not required to attend.

I haven't done the CUE yet, and not sure that I will or if I have a case there. Yes, I swallowed the red pill if you mean trying to file a disability claim....and it does seem like i'm heading into wonderland here. Again, I think its shameful if a guy comes back from war and has to navigate through this web with the VA especially if they are suffering from PTSD or who knows what. Maybe I've went the wrong route here, but I feel like I'm doing this by myself. Maybe someone can answer this, what exactly does a VSO do for someone? My VSO does not answer my phone calls, he will reply to an email maybe a week later (if at all). I had a VSO from Ohio re-submit my claim to get me started in this second go-around with the VA, but the guy from Ohio does not represent me. I'm assigned to another group. So I've been logging into ebenefits and uploaded medical records and responding to the VA requests by myself. I had to file a "statement in support of claim", which wasn't too bad, but I felt like my VSO if he's representing me, should have gave me some suggestions on what to put on that form. Also....I am scheduled for a C & P exam on 11/19. The ONLY reason I know that I'm scheduled for this, is I was on eBenefits and happened to see a link that said "view your scheduled VA exams". I had no reason to click on this, but for some reason I did...and up comes a calendar that shows me scheduled for this C & P exam. I didn't receive a phone call, or anything in email or in snail mail. Is this normal? I know that if I miss the C & P exam, the VA will automatically reject my claim. It seems there would be a more formal process to notify someone they have this appointment scheduled than me just randomly stumbling across this calendar on eBenefits???? Should my VSO notified me of this, or mail/phone???? I spoke to another guy yesterday that works for the same organization representing me, and I complained about my VSO. He is going to request I get put in touch with someone else. But I guess I don't really understand what the VSO does. It feels like I'm doing this all by myself. Not whinning...just wondering if I'm doing this right or not. Which is why I stated above if a guy comes back with PTSD, they are dealing with a lot in their head. Or if a guy comes back from war and is depressed over God forbid some really bad injuries...they have to deal with all this crap??? Man, shame on the government. But I'll make it through this.

USCG CWO4 - I totally feel your pain. My venting is...why is this whole process difficult at all? I know I'm naive here and totally simplifing the problem, but for me...I'd like to call a number or go to an office/doctor/hospital/ (you fill in the blank here)....explain my situation and have someone tell me "yes you are eligible, please fill out this paperwork" or "no you are not eligible, have a nice day". I feel like I'm following this VA Claims process, bogging down the system for TRUE heroes who deserve benefits and need help more than me....all because this process is like chinese arthimetic. Or maybe I'm just feeble minded...but navigating ebenefits, keeping track of the paper trail, following up on calls to the VA - that is IF by the grace of GOD you are lucky enough to get a call through to the VA, all the crap I have to go through to submit this claim on top of taking care of life. It's all overwelming. Then to find out the VA will deny benefits because you didn't follow a process correctly, or some other technicality...its disgraceful. I thank God I do not have PTSD and have to deal with the VA. Anyway, I'll stop before I get all riled up. Best of luck to everyone here trying to get help they need and deserve.

So I read up some on this CUE claim process last night. From what I'm gathering, this is not something I want to attempt on my own because if I mess it up, I don't get a second shot. Should I contact a lawyer for this? Can anyone recommend a good one? I have a VSO but I'm not overly impressed so far. He has been hard to reach and non responsive. britton - you mentioned "carlie", is this a member on this site? I'm sure this is a common feeling around here, but I feel screwed by the VA because I never filed a claim from the beginning (in 1996), yet I didn't file a claim because I wasn't interested in money..i just wanted my kidneys taken care of. Since I had private insurance, I wasn't worried about it. So now I'm just trying to make sure my kidneys are taken care of but because it is so difficult to get this service connected, I feel I have to go after all I can. I know I'm preaching to the choir here but it is shameful to think our government/VA would try to deny benefits to service men/women based on technicalities. For me to have to get a lawyer because its too difficult to get the VA to establish the right date of my original claim (2008)....that just seems ****ing wrong!!